Mayor Edwin M. Lee today made the following statement following the release of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2011 Bay Area Infrastructure Report Card, which highlighted the urgent need for investment in the Bay Area’s deteriorating infrastructure:

“This report card illustrates the dire and deteriorating condition of so much of our infrastructure here in the Bay Area – a crisis that our nation, our state and our region can no longer afford to ignore. Here in San Francisco, I’m very proud that we have taken responsibility for improving our own water system, sewers, parks and airport through our 10 Year Capital Plan, which prioritizes capital improvement needs and funding citywide over the next decade. The plan recommends $24.8 billion in capital improvements in transportation, transit, water, wastewater, streets, open space and critical facilities that will protect the public health and safety and create more than 162,000 jobs. Major capital improvement projects like the rebuild of S.F. General Hospital, Doyle Drive seismic retrofit, the Central Subway and renovations to our parks, libraries, police and fire stations are well underway. Our historic $4.6 billion seismic upgrade of the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System, a voter-approved, bond-funded program remains on-schedule and on-budget.

But when it comes to the condition of San Francisco’s streets, bridges and overpasses, we can and must do better. That’s why working with the Board of Supervisors, we have placed a $248 million Road Repaving and Street Safety Bond on the November ballot. The bond will repave streets and fix potholes in neighborhoods throughout the City and seismically strengthen deteriorating bridges, overpasses and stairways. It will also improve streetscapes for pedestrian and bicycle safety, improve traffic flow on local streets and install sidewalk and curb ramps to meet the City’s obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. With more than half of our 850 miles of roadways deteriorating, we must confront the crisis in the condition of our streets now or we will face even greater costs and threats to public health and safety later.

Cities need to send a message to Washington that more investment in infrastructure is needed. This is why San Francisco is joining the national America Fast Forward effort led by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to stimulate our local economy, provide jobs to our local residents and improve our City’s infrastructure. By passing Federal legislation to enable the America Fast Forward program, we can put 920,000 Americans per year to work building our national infrastructure without contributing to the national debt.”